Children need and deserve safe havens

Tuesday

Sep 10, 2013 at 4:01 PM

By ELISHA FREEMANSpeak Out For Kids

What did you do after school when you were growing up? I was an '80s "latchkey kid." My parents worked, and after school I was alone for a few hours until they got home.I lived in a safe home in a safe neighborhood. There was food in the cabinet for an after-school snack, and Mom would soon be home to cook dinner. I was a fortunate child.Not all kids are so lucky. In fact, we know that hundreds of kids in our community are homeless, which could mean their families are living "doubled up" with another family or that they are sometimes sleeping in a car or shelter or maybe in one of our local hotels.Do you know any of these kids? If you have a child in one of our local schools, you do. It is very important that we make sure children are safe at home, in their schools and in their neighborhoods. It is equally important for children's development that these are all places that engage them constructively and actively.At an event called Speak Out for Kids in 2007, local citizens named two "safety" priorities for kids in Henderson County. One was to increase the availability of safe, affordable housing and the other was to increase access to after-school alternatives for youths. These citizens were right. Having a safe place to live and spend their time is critical to the healthy development of a child.Affordable housing is a real challenge in Henderson County. In 2009, the Asheville Regional Housing Consortium found that in order to fill the need for more than 4,000 affordable housing units through 2020 in Henderson County, we'd need build 482 new units each year. A more recent market study conducted by Koontz and Salinger in March 2012 identified the immediate need for 1,719 new affordable two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments for local families.The need is greater than our supply. The Hendersonville Housing Authority has 384 affordable housing units, and there are nearly 100 families on a waiting list with an expected wait of over a year for a unit. Western Carolina Community Action has 440 units and administers the Section 8 voucher program that currently has 901 people on a waiting list with an expected wait of over two years long. According to Sheryl Fortune, housing programs director, "Henderson County has not received funding from HUD for additional vouchers to provide housing for families since 1998."The Housing Assistance Corporation and Habitat for Humanity have affordable housing projects under construction to help meet the need for more units. The Housing Assistance Corporation has plans to develop 20 units of single-family housing over the next two years and is seeking funding for a 60-plus-unit apartment development. Habitat for Humanity has started construction of the Dodd Meadows neighborhood, which will provide housing for 82 families.Noelle McKay, executive director of the Housing Assistance Corporation, sees the struggle local families have finding affordable housing every day. "High-cost housing negatively affects a family's ability to pay for other necessities such as food, clothing and health care, and often it represents the difference between a stable and an unstable family situation."Noelle shares a story of a 9-year-old boy in our community. His mother works full time as a cashier and is struggling to meet her housing and basic-needs expenses. She is likely making a little more than $18,000 year (the average wage for a full-time cashier in our area), but in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment at our local fair-market rent of $777 month, she needs to earn at least $31,080. This means she must work longer hours or get an additional job, and her son is often home alone without her help. When she does arrive home, she is exhausted, and time with her son is short. Unfortunately, this 9-year-old's story is a very real, very common story for many children.Equally important for children are safe places to be after school and during breaks that provide them with constructive use of their time. Local organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club and the Crosswalk, operated by First Baptist Church, are helping to fill this need by providing safe and engaging places for kids to spend their time after school and during breaks. Caring adults are there helping kids with homework and providing structure by giving their time. The rewards are incredible. Together, they are serving hundreds of schoolchildren each year, but there are still many children who are unable to access these programs, and more such programs could help.These are big issues that need attention. I think you and I live in a community that can come together and do something about it. Will you join me in delivering on the promise of safe places by providing one or investing some of your time as a volunteer at one of the great organizations providing them?I hope you'll visit our website, www.5promiseshc.org, to review the data about kids and to learn about how you can make a difference.

Elisha Freeman is executive director of the Children & Family Resource Center (www.childrenandfamily.org; 828-698-0674).

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